1. Technical Field
Example embodiments of the present invention relate to a cleaning solution for a quartz part and to a method of cleaning the quartz part using the same. More particularly, example embodiments of the present invention relate to a cleaning solution for a quartz part to remove residual thin films and particles remaining on the surface of the quartz part of an apparatus for manufacturing a semiconductor device and to a method of cleaning the quartz part using the cleaning solution.
2. Description of the Related Art
Generally, a semiconductor device is formed by performing unit processes including a thin layer forming process, a photoresist pattern forming process, an etching process, a cleaning process, and so on. The thin layer may include a silicon oxide layer, a silicon nitride layer, a metal oxide layer, a metal nitride layer or a metal layer. The thin layer may be formed by depositing corresponding material on a semiconductor substrate. The photoresist pattern may be formed by implementing the processes of forming a photoresist layer on a substrate, exposing the formed photoresist layer and then developing the exposed layer. The etching process may be performed to selectively remove the thin layer using the photoresist pattern as an etching mask and the cleaning process may then be implemented to remove residual photoresist patterns and impurities on the substrate after completing the etching process.
For performing the unit processes for manufacturing the semiconductor device, chambers or tubes of process facilities for applying the following processes of, for example, a chemical vapor deposition (CVD) process, a metal deposition process, a diffusion process, etc. may be utilized when forming thin layers. The chambers or tubes may mostly include parts made by, for example, using salt-resistant and chemical-resistant quartz.
In particular, even though the quartz parts may not directly contact wafers, the quartz parts may still be exposed to gases employed during implementing the depositing process along with the wafers. As a result, the surface of the quartz parts may suffer from minute damage and impurity-containing thin films may be formed on the surface of the quartz parts. Consequently, the impurity-containing thin films may be transferred to the wafer to induce a defect, so the manufacturing process of the semiconductor device is periodically halted and the quartz parts are separated from the apparatus to implement a cleaning process.
Nowadays, the cleaning of the quartz parts is performed using a cleaning solution obtained by mixing hydrofluoric acid (HF) and nitric acid (HNO3) in a predetermined mixing ratio and by using a cleaning apparatus of a bath type or a spray type for at least about 30 minutes. According to the above-described cleaning method, the thin films and the particles deposited onto the quartz parts can be readily removed, but the surface portion of the quartz parts may be excessively etched.
The excessive etching may induce the contamination of the wafer and further, when the cleaning process of the quartz parts is performed several times, the weight and the surface profile of the quartz parts may be changed.
FIG. 1 is a photograph for showing the surface portion of a piece of a quartz part after implementing a cleaning process using the conventional cleaning solution for the quartz parts.
Referring to the photograph illustrated in FIG. 1, the weight change of the quartz part is large and the surface profile of the quartz part is seriously changed. Therefore, the installation of the quartz part to the manufacturing facilities of the semiconductor devices may become very difficult.